Because...

Who Doesn't need a pair of 100% wool mittens when it's 86°F outside?

Details:

Pattern: Wood Hollow Mittens (rav link) by Kirsten Kapur of Through The Loops

Yarn: Cascade 220 Tweed - leftovers from my Tangled Yoke Not-Cardigan. The irony? I still had leftovers, cast on for a matching hat & will need to buy more of this yarn if I want to finish the hat (I'm 2/3 of the way done, so ripping out in favor of a different project isn't an option). I see a very unfriendly loop of sorts in my future - buy new skein, finish hat, have leftovers still, cast on different project, need more yarn, buy more yarn, etc. Arghhhh - 2010 is supposed to be about stash reduction!

Needles: KPO US5. Should have used a US6, but since the US5 tips were already on the cable from the TYNC, I just sallied forth...

Time Frame: Not exactly sure, but I think it probably took me around a week of on & off knitting.

Overall a fun knit & great addition to the knit gift basket.

Ciao!

All The Water...

Another finished object for January - seems like 2009 has been a good one for finishing projects so far. :0)

These are All The Water - a fabulous pattern from Through The Loops. She recently released this pattern along with Breathe Deep. Since I'm such a lover of cables, I download the pattern right away - it just 'spoke' to me. Sure enough - the next day I log on to Ravelry and discovered I had won a copy of this pattern by participating in NaKniMitMo on Ravelry!!! How cool is that!! Kirsten was so nice & sent me her Breathe Deep pattern after I explained I had just purchased All The Water. Now I have another of her patterns to knit. I think I'll make the Breathe Deep for a good friend who is expecting a little bee-ba next July. I thought a patterned entitled 'breathe deep' would be so apropos.

If you haven't discovered Through The Loops - you should really check it out. Her patterns are very easy to follow and fun to knit. She sponsored the Mystery Sock KAL on Ravelry during October.

Details:

Pattern: All The Water
Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers
Colorway: Lavender
Needles: US7 - Knit Picks Options (I *love* these needles!!!)
Size: M/L - A little wide, so next time I'll knit the S/M size.

Modifications: None really - I did the cables without a cable needle - it's becoming my preferred method. I was hoping to use the new knit picks harmony cable needles I received from my DH for Christmas. However - the needles have grooves which get caught on the yarn. I have no idea what purpose the grooves serve - any ideas???

As you can see - it's cold again. At least we're not in negative double digits. We've finally turned a corner here in Alaska where the sun is a tad bit higher in the sky & you can actually feel the warmth of its rays.

Speaking of warmth & water... the warm spell we had a couple of weeks ago wreaked havoc on our downstairs. As you probably know, water melts at 32°F, and we had temperatures well above water's/snow's melting point. Another fantastic property of water is that it likes to seek the lowest point available - like our basement. Yes - nothing like shop-vaccing 60 gallons of water out of carpet on a Friday night. The carpet pad was ruined & has been removed & discarded. The carpet has finally dried and the funky wet carpet smell isn't as noticeable (at least to us). Of course - we don't have flood insurance - we live on a glacial moraine (i.e. - mound of earth left behind from retreating glaciers a gazillion years ago) & far from any major source of water (inlet, river, creek, lake, etc.) It is highly unlikely we would be affected by a flood in the traditional sense. In my personal internal dictionary, I don't file rapid snow melt in the same category as a flood. Apparently my insurance company does. Go figure...

Anyhow - no worries, nothing we can't overcome; it could be so much worse.

Happy knitting! Ciao ~